Awesome
Codex
A comic archive browser and reader.
<img src="codex/static_src/img/logo.svg" style=" height: 128px; width: 128px; border-radius: 128px; " />
<a name="features">β¨ Features</a>
- Codex is a web server.
- GPLv3 Licenced.
- Full text search of metadata and bookmarks.
- Filter and sort on all comic metadata and unread status per user.
- Browse a tree of Publishers, Imprints, Series, Volumes, or your own folder hierarchy, or by tagged Story Arc.
- Read comics in a variety of aspect ratios and directions that fit your screen.
- Watches the filesystem and automatically imports new or changed comics.
- Anonymous browsing and reading or reigistered users only, to your preference.
- Per user bookmarking & settings, even before you make an account.
- Private Libraries accessible only to certain groups of users.
- Reads CBZ, CBR, CBT, and PDF formatted comics.
- Syndication with OPDS 1 & 2, streaming, search and authentication.
- Add custom covers to Folders, Publishers, Imprints, Series, and Story Arcs.
- Runs in 1GB of RAM, faster with more.
Examples
- Filter by Story Arc and Unread, Order by Publish Date to create an event reading list.
- Filter by Unread and Order by Added Time to see your latest unread comics.
- Search by your favorite character to find their appearances across different comics.
<a name="demonstration">π Demonstration</a>
You may browse a live demo server to get a feel for Codex.
<a name="news">π News</a>
Codex has a <a href="NEWS.md">NEWS file</a> to summarize changes that affect users.
<a name="installation">π¦ Installation</a>
Install & Run with Docker
Run the official Docker Image. Instructions for running the docker image are on the Docker Hub README. This is the recommended way to run Codex.
You'll then want to read the Administration section of this document.
Install & Run on <a href="homeassistant">HomeAssistant</a> server
If you have a HomeAssistant server, Codex can be installed with the following steps :
- Add the
https://github.com/alexbelgium/hassio-addons
repository by clicking here - Install the addon : click here to automatically open the addon store, then install the addon
- Customize addon options, then then start the add-on.
Install & Run as a Native Application
You can also run Codex as a natively installed python application with pip.
Binary Dependencies
You'll need to install the appropriate system dependencies for your platform before installing Codex.
Linux Dependencies
<a href="#debian">Debian</a> Dependencies
...and Ubuntu, Mint, MX, Window Subsystem for Linux, and others.
apt install build-essential libimagequant0 libjpeg-turbo8 libopenjp2-7 libssl libyaml-0-2 libtiff6 libwebp7 python3-dev python3-pip mupdf sqlite3 unrar zlib1g
Versions of packages like libjpeg, libssl, libtiff may differ between flavors
and versions of your distribution. If the package versions listed in the example
above are not available, try searching for ones that are with apt-cache
or
aptitude
.
apt-cache search libjpeg-turbo
<a href="alpine">Alpine</a> Dependencies
apk add bsd-compat-headers build-base jpeg-dev libffi-dev libwebp openssl-dev sqlite yaml-dev zlib-dev
Install unrar Runtime Dependency on non-debian Linux
Codex requires unrar to read CBR formatted comic archives. Unrar is often not packaged for Linux, but here are some instructions: How to install unrar in Linux
Unrar as packaged for Alpine Linux v3.14 seems to work on Alpine v3.15+
macOS Dependencies
Using Homebrew:
brew install jpeg libffi libyaml libzip openssl python sqlite unrar webp
<a href="#windows">Windows</a> Dependencies
Windows users are encouraged to use Docker to run Codex, but it will also run natively on the Windows Subsystem for Linux.
Installation instructions are in the <a href="/WINDOWS.md">Native Windows Dependencies Installation Document</a>.
<a href="#run">Run</a> Codex Natively
Once you have installed codex, the codex binary should be on your path. To start codex, run:
codex
Use Codex
Once installed and running you may navigate to http://localhost:9810/
<a name="administration">π Administration</a>
Navigate to the Admin Panel
- Click the hamburger menu β° to open the browser settings drawer.
- Log in as the 'admin' user. The default administrator password is also 'admin'.
- Navigate to the Admin Panel by clicking on its link in the browser settings drawer after you have logged in.
Change the Admin password
The first thing you should do is log in as the admin user and change the admin password.
- Navigate to the Admin Panel as described above.
- Select the Users tab.
- Change the admin user's password using the small lock button.
- You may also change the admin user's name with the edit button.
- You may create other users and grant them admin privileges by making them staff.
Add Comic Libraries
The second thing you will want to do is log in as an Administrator and add one or more comic libraries.
- Navigate to the Admin Panel as described above.
- Select the Libraries tab in the Admin Panel
- Add a Library with the "+ LIBRARY" button in the upper left.
Reset the admin password
If you forget all your superuser passwords, you may restore the original default
admin account by running codex with the CODEX_RESET_ADMIN
environment variable
set.
CODEX_RESET_ADMIN=1 codex
or, if using Docker:
docker run -e CODEX_RESET_ADMIN=1 -v host-parent-dir/config:/config ajslater/codex
Private Libraries
In the Admin Panel you may configure private libraries that are only accessible to specific groups.
A library with no groups is accessible to every user including anonymous users.
A library with any groups is accessible only to users who are in those groups.
Use the Groups admin panel to create groups and the Users admin panel to add and remove users to groups.
Include and Exclude Groups
Codex can make groups for libraries that exclude groups of users or exclude everyone and include only certain groups of users.
PDF Metadata
Codex reads PDF metadata from the filename, PDF metadata fields and also many
formats of common complex comic metadata if they are embedded in the PDF
keywords
field.
If you decide to include PDFs in your comic library, I recommend taking time to rename your files so Codex can find some metadata. Codex recognizes several file naming schemes. This one has good results:
{series} v{volume} #{issue} {title} ({year}) {ignored}.pdf
Complex comic metadata, such as ComicInfo.xml, can be also be embedded in the keywords field by using the comicbox command line tool. Codex will read this data because it relies on comicbox internally. Not many people use comicbox or embedded metadata in PDFs in this fashion, so you likely won't find it unless you've added it yourself.
ποΈ API with Key Access
Codex has a limited number of API endpoints available with API Key Access. The API Key is available on the admin/stats tab.
<a name="configuration">ποΈ Configuration</a>
Config Dir
The default config directory is config/
directly under the working directory
you run codex from. You may specify an alternate config directory with the
environment variable CODEX_CONFIG_DIR
.
The config directory contains a file named hypercorn.toml
where you can
specify ports and bind addresses. If no hypercorn.toml
is present Codex copies
a default one to that directory on startup.
The default values for the config options are:
bind = ["0.0.0.0:9810"]
quick_bind = ["0.0.0.0:9810"]
root_path = "/codex"
The config directory also holds the main sqlite database, the Whoosh search index, a Django cache and comic book cover thumbnails.
Environment Variables
General
TIMEZONE
orTZ
will explicitly set the timezone in long format (e.g."America/Los Angeles"
). This is useful inside Docker because codex cannot automatically detect the host machine's timezone.CODEX_CONFIG_DIR
will set the path to codex config directory. Defaults to$CWD/config
CODEX_RESET_ADMIN=1
will reset the admin user and its password to defaults when codex starts.CODEX_FIX_FOREIGN_KEYS=1
will check for and try to repair illegal foreign keys on startup.CODEX_INTEGRITY_CHECK=1
will perform database integrity check on startup.CODEX_FTS_INTEGRITY_CHECK=1
will perform an integrity check on the full text search index.CODEX_FTS_REBUILD=1
will rebuild the full text search index.DEBUG_TRANSFORM
will show verbose information about how the comicbox library reads all archive metadata sources and transforms it into a the comicbox schema.
Logging
LOGLEVEL
will change how verbose codex's logging is. Valid values areERROR
,WARNING
,INFO
,DEBUG
. The default isINFO
.CODEX_LOG_DIR
sets a custom directory for saving logfiles. Defaults to$CODEX_CONFIG_DIR/logs
CODEX_LOG_TO_FILE=0
will not log to files.CODEX_LOG_TO_CONSOLE=0
will not log to the console.
Throttling
Codex contains some experimental throttling controls. The value supplied to these variables will be interpreted as the maximum number of allowed requests per minute. For example, the following settings would limit each described group to 2 queries per second.
CODEX_THROTTLE_ANON=30
Anonymous usersCODEX_THROTTLE_USER=30
Authenticated usersCODEX_THROTTLE_OPDS=30
The OPDS v1 & v2 APIs (Panels uses this for search)CODEX_THROTTLE_OPENSEARCH=30
The OPDS v1 Opensearch API
Reverse Proxy
nginx is often used as a TLS terminator and subpath proxy.
Here's an example nginx config with a subpath named '/codex'.
# HTTP
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $server_name;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Port $server_port;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
proxy_set_header X-Scheme $scheme;
# Websockets
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "Upgrade" location /codex {
proxy_pass http://codex:9810;
# Codex reads http basic authentication.
# If the nginx credentials are different than codex credentials use this line to
# not forward the authorization.
proxy_set_header Authorization "";
}
Specify a reverse proxy sub path (if you have one) in config/hypercorn.toml
root_path = "/codex"
Nginx Reverse Proxy 502 when container refreshes
Nginx requires a special trick to refresh dns when linked Docker containers recreate. See this nginx with dynamix upstreams article.
Restricted Memory Environments
Codex can run with as little as 1GB available RAM. Large batch jobs βlike importing and indexing tens of thousands of comics at onceβ will run faster the more memory is available to Codex. The biggest gains in speed happen when you increase memory up to about 6GB. Codex batch jobs do get faster the more memory it has above 6GB, but with diminishing returns.
If you must run Codex in an admin restricted memory environment you might want to temporarily give Codex a lot of memory to run a very large import job and then restrict it for normal operation.
<a name="use">π Use</a>
π€ Sessions & Accounts
Once your administrator has added some comic libraries, you may browse and read comics. Codex will remember your preferences, bookmarks and progress in the browser session. Codex destroys anonymous sessions and bookmarks after 60 days. To preserve these settings across browsers and after sessions expire, you may register an account with a username and password. You will have to contact your administrator to reset your password if you forget it.
α―€ OPDS
Codex supports OPDS syndication and OPDS streaming. You may find the OPDS url in the side drawer. It should take the form:
http(s)://host.tld(:9810)(/root_path)/opds/v1.2/
or
http(s)://host.tld(:9810)(/root_path)/opds/v2.0/
OPDS 2.0 support is experimental and not widely or well supported by clients. OPDS 2.0 book readers exist, but I am not yet aware of an OPDS 2.0 comic reader.
Clients
- iOS has Panels, PocketBooks, KYBook 3, and Chunky Comic Reader
- Android has Moon+ and Librera
Kybook 3 does not seem to support http basic authentication, so Cbbodex users are not supported.
HTTP Basic Authentication
If you wish to access OPDS as your Codex User. You will have to add your username and password to the URL. Some OPDS clients do not asssist you with authentication. In that case the OPDS url will look like:
http(s)://username:password@host.tld(:9810)(/root_path)/opds/v1.2/
Supported OPDS Specifications
OPDS v1
OPDS v2
<a name="troubleshooting">π©Ί Troubleshooting</a>
π Logs
Codex collects its logs in the config/logs
directory. Take a look to see what
th e server is doing.
You can change how much codex logs by setting the LOGLEVEL
environment
variable. By default this level is INFO
. To see more verbose messages, run
codex like:
LOGLEVEL=DEBUG codex
Watching Filesystem Events with Docker
Codex tries to watch for filesystem events to instantly update your comic
libraries when they change on disk. But these native filesystem events are not
translated between macOS & Windows Docker hosts and the Docker Linux container.
If you find that your installation is not updating to filesystem changes
instantly, you might try enabling polling for the affected libraries and
decreasing the poll_every
value in the Admin console to a frequency that suits
you.
Emergency Database Repair
If the database becomes corrupt, Codex includes a facility to rebuild the
database. Place a file named rebuild_db
in your Codex config directory like
so:
touch config/rebuild_db
Shut down and restart Codex.
The next time Codex starts it will back up the existing database and try to
rebuild it. The database lives in the config directory as the file
config/db.sqlite3
. If this procedure goes kablooey, you may recover the
original database at config/backups/codex.sqlite3.before-rebuild
. Codex will
remove the rebuild_db
file.
Warnings to Ignore
StreamingHttpResponse Iterator Warning
packages/django/http/response.py:517: Warning: StreamingHttpResponse must consume synchronous iterators in order to serve them asynchronously. Use an asynchronous iterator instead.
This is a known warning and does not represent anything bad happening. It's an artifact of the Django framework slowly supporting asynchronous server endpoints and unfortunately isn't practical to remove yet.
<a name="alternatives-to-codex">πAlternatives</a>
- Kavita has light metadata filtering/editing, supports comics, eBooks, and features for manga.
- Komga has light metadata editing.
- Ubooquity reads both comics and eBooks.
- Mylar is the best comic book manager which also has a built in reader.
- Comictagger is a comic metadata editor. It comes with a powerful command line and desktop GUI.
<a name="contributing">π€ Contributing</a>
<a name="bug_reports">π Bug Reports</a>
Issues and feature requests are best filed on the Github issue tracker.
<a name="out-of-scope">π« Out of Scope</a>
- I have no intention of making this an eBook reader.
- I think metadata editing would be better placed in a comic manager than a reader.
<a name="develop-codex">π Develop</a>
Codex is a Django Python webserver with a VueJS front end.
/codex/codex/
is the main django app which provides the webserver and
database.
/codex/frontend/
is where the vuejs frontend lives.
Most of Codex development is now controlled through the Makefile. Type make
for a list of commands.
<a name="discord">π¬ Support</a>
By the generosity of the good people of
Mylar, I and other Codex users answer
questions on the Mylar Discord. Please use the
#codex-support
channel to ask for help with Codex.
<a name="links">π Links</a>
<a name="special-thanks">ππ» Special Thanks</a>
- Thanks to AurΓ©lien Mazurie for allowing me to use the PyPi name 'codex'.
- To ProfessionalTart for providing native Windows installation instructions.
- Thanks to the good people of #mylar for continuous feedback and comic ecosystem education.